An amateur footballer fractured an opponent’s skull when he head butted him in a “moment of madness”.

Defendant Stewart Parry, 31, was playing for Y Tai pub team against The Railway at Brymbo, Wrexham, on July 29 last year when the incident happened.

Mold Crown Court was told that Parry had fouled Nathan Evans. There was a brief row and then Parry head-butted him.

The game was immediately abandoned by the referee, prosecutor Elen Owen said.

Judge David Hale told Parry that there was no place for such violence in a game of soccer, and that while players knew there was a risk of injury from playing football, they did not expect to be head butted.

Thw court heard Mr Evans sustained a minor fracture of the skull, and although he had made a full recovery, he had been off work for two and a half weeks.

“Of course football is a contact sport in which fast movement and the inevitable contact carries the risk of injury.

“But those who play it must know that they is no space in the game for violence of the sort that you adopted.

“Everyone understands that it is a testosterone fuelled environment and that you did not think it through.

“I am sure you never intended to cause such an injury to Mr Evans but you did.

“That is the risk you run if you assault somebody during the course of a football match.”

The starting point was 45 weeks imprisonment, but it was reduced to 30 weeks because of Parry’s early guilty plea.

The court heard he had no previous convictions, a good job, and that people thought highly of him.

The court heard how after the foul by the defendant, there had been an exchange of words and the head butt occurred.

Parry had claimed he had subjected to a personal derogatory comment from his victim, but the judge said the referee supported the prosecution case that the defendant had used the words “you cocky little f***er”.